A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital
Early Friday evening, the hospital announced the outbreak on the 5th floor Acute Medicine Unit after three patients tested positive for the virus. The unit is currently closed to essential caregivers.
It’s the first outbreak at the facility since the start of the pandemic.
Hospital president and CEO Karen Davies noted that is the result of “the exceptional attention of our Infection Prevention and Control Measures over the past 22 months as we have managed a high volume of COVID.”
She warned, “This recent increasing surge of COVID-19 cases in our community puts our hospital at risk.”
Speaking to myFM earlier this week, Davies stressed with the explosion of Omicron cases, “there is a real risk of being overwhelmed.”
On Wednesday, the hospital Tweeted, “Today, our inpatient area is at 120%. That means 78 patients are in an area intended for 65.”
All areas of the hospital are short-staffed Davies pointed out and “the goodwill of nurses is exhausted.”
Davies is urging “all residents in Elgin county to get vaccinated, follow public health guidelines to keep yourselves and each other safe and healthy.”
The hospital is working with Southwestern Public Health and its Infection Prevention and Control team to monitor the situation and notify patients and staff affected by the outbreak. Contact tracing and testing is being completed through the unit.
